


Why Do We Always Fight?

by ladyroxanne21



Series: Punish Me [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Both are acting childish, Draco is a dick, Fighting, M/M, harry is an arse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-05
Updated: 2017-01-05
Packaged: 2018-09-14 23:36:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9210305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: During the month between Harry's engagement and wedding, he and Draco attempt to avoid each other while sharing their daughter because whenever they get together, they do nothing but fight.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Warning, Harry and Draco are *both* complete bastards in this chapter, more or less, although I'd like to think they have their good points too. Anyway, yes, I understand that they aren't very likable at the moment...

Over the next week, Harry did his best to avoid Draco. He adjusted the wards so that Draco couldn't Apparate or Floo in, and also told Kreacher to send Draco away if he showed up outside the wards demanding to talk to Harry. At the same time, he  _didn't_ keep Lily away from Draco, letting her Floo over to the Manor whenever she wanted, which was after dinner each night for a few hours and almost the entire day when she didn't have circus school. She even spent the night whenever she felt like it.

All in all, Harry and Draco were sharing Lily without having any contact between them. The strange thing – in Harry's opinion – was that Draco didn't try to send any owls, which Harry would have at least read before trying to decide whether or not to reply to them. Neither did Draco try to send any sort of messages to Harry via Lily, for which he was grateful. Though he did find it odd.

Despite their best efforts to make sure that Lily didn't notice anything strange was going on, she did anyway. “Daddy, why aren't you and Draco talking to each other?”

Harry looked away to hide a light blush as he cleared his throat. “I don't know what you mean.”

He wasn't looking at her, so he didn't see her roll her eyes. “Yes you do. The two of you were talking to each other a lot – almost like friends – but now you haven't said a thing in days! You don't even come over to the Manor to pick me up! You just send Kreacher if I've lost track of time...”

Harry sighed a bit morosely. “We were never friends. We've simply decided to share you like the fully grown adults that we are.”

“Oh...” Lily murmured. She could sense that there was more that he wasn't saying, but she dropped the matter for now. Harry gave her a kiss and tucked her in before shutting her light off and leaving the room.

The next morning, Harry got up a bit earlier than normal – because he just couldn't sleep anyway. He nearly made Kreacher cry by evicting the house elf from the kitchen, and then made up a huge breakfast including bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, toast, strawberry and blueberry preserves (that he'd made a while back), along with three varieties of juice, tea, milk, and water.

“YES!” Ron hissed happily when he and Hermione brought their kids down for breakfast. He utterly _loved_ when Harry cooked up a full breakfast – despite the fact that Kreacher grumbled unhappily for at least two days afterwards.

“Smells good,” Jeremiah added with a huge yawn as he followed the others. Lily appeared about a minute later, and the entire family dished themselves up.

It was mostly quiet for a bit – aside from the kids fussing – until the tea kicked in and woke them all up. Harry pushed his plate aside a little and conjured up a sheet of paper. He positioned the paper between him and Jeremiah.

“So, I've given this a lot of thought, and I think that if we pick Saturday March 15th as our date, that will give us enough time to make arrangements and send out invites, but hopefully it'll be short enough that the media won't catch wind of it,” Harry explained, magicking a simple calendar onto the paper and circling the 15th of March. “We can use my backyard – or even the Burrow – as a venue, and most of the decorations and even the invitations can be done using magic, so that should make the only things we need to do... What?”

Harry stopped and looked around when he realized that everyone was staring at him silently – except for Rose and Hugo, who were only four and two and didn't really care what Harry was saying.

“Does this mean you're saying yes?” Jeremiah asked hopefully.

Harry blushed and rubbed the back of his neck when he realized that he had forgotten to say the most important part. “Er... Yeah. Yes. I'll marry you.”

“ _Yes_!” Jeremiah hissed happily as he formed fists and pulled his elbows back. He then pulled Harry into a tight hug that was awkward because they were both leaning over the table.

“Hooray!” Lily squealed in joy and launched herself so that she was hanging off both of them. “I'm so excited! I'm going to wear the prettiest dress ever!”

Harry smiled at his daughter and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And you'll be the flower girl and maybe even carry the rings?”

“And will I get to sing a song?” Lily asked in excitement.

“Of course!” Jeremiah assured her with a fond smile. 

Lily jumped up and down and squealed for a good five seconds before downing the last of her pomegranate juice and rushing over to the fireplace. “I've got to pick the perfect song!” She cried out as she grabbed a pinch of Floo powder.

“Just firecall me at some point to let me know if you plan to spend the night!” Harry called after her, figuring that since she didn't have school during the weekends, she might decide to spend the night at the Manor.

“Will do!” Lily called out as she tossed the powder into the fireplace, then she told it: “Malfoy Manor – Lily's room!”

“She has her own Floo?!” Harry both asked and stated, and then sighed. “Of course she does.”

Ron laughed. “Well, if she does decide to spend the night, that'll give us an opportunity to go out for drinks tonight to celebrate.”

“My parents are taking the kids for the weekend,” Hermione added. “Mum thinks I don't let her see them enough, so...” she trailed off with a shrug, implying without words that she had no problem with her parents taking the kids if they wanted.

“Sounds like a great idea!” Harry replied with a grin. “Which gives us plenty of time to go shopping for rings today, if you want.” Harry kissed Jeremiah's hand as he gave him time to think this over.

Jeremiah grinned at Harry. “Of course I want to.”

“Good,” Harry stated, feeling strangely relieved to hear that. Even though Jeremiah had been the one to ask Harry, Harry felt that the man couldn't possibly want to marry him after everything that had happened. “I was thinking that we'd go to this place in Diagon Alley. They have a ring there with a couple of protective charms on it that I think would be perfect for you.”

“Protective how?” Jeremiah asked curiously.

Harry shrugged. “Just shields to block out most basic curses or hexes so that if you're walking along – say taking Lily shopping or something – and a spell intended for someone else goes astray, you'll be safe.”

Jeremiah frowned. “What aren't you telling me?”

Harry looked away evasively, wondering how Jeremiah knew he was reluctant to admit to the real reason. Then he sighed. “Well... there's a chance that some people might not take kindly to me marrying a muggle and...” he trailed off with a shrug. “I just want to make sure you won't get caught by a crazy person.

“Oh God! I didn't even think of that!” Hermione burst out in dismay. “You're absolutely right, Harry. He should wear a protective ring, and then you should buy a necklace or something that's free of all magic so that we can layer it with other protective charms to cover as many possibilities as we can.”

Ron kissed Hermione on the cheek. “And since you work for the Ministry, you can probably get him an emergency portkey. That way, if he ever finds himself in danger, he can activate it and be transported directly home.”

“That's a brilliant idea!” Hermione exclaimed, throwing her arms around her husband and giving him a kiss.

Jeremiah chuckled nervously. “You're all making it sound as if I'm going to be in mortal peril or something.”

“ _Well_...” They all responded, sort of half shrugging as they looked away.

“Heh...” Jeremiah murmured since he couldn't think of anything better to say.

Harry kissed him, then took hold of his hand. “Come on, let's go shopping.”

Jeremiah smirked in amusement. “I'm sure those reporters you keep complaining about will  _love_ seeing you walk around in your boxers.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “ _After_ I get dressed, of course.”

“Of course,” Jeremiah murmured, kissing Harry again. The two of them suddenly decided that going to Harry's room to – ahem – _get dressed_ sounded like an excellent idea.

Ron laughed as they rushed up the stairs. “So... when can we bring the kids to your parents and have a little alone time of our own?”

“As soon as they're finished eating,” Hermione promised with a grin.

“Perfect!” Ron stated with a cheer.

 

***

 

“Lily! We didn't realize you were here!” Draco exclaimed as he and his mother entered her room to add the anchoring ring to her ceiling that Lily had asked for.

Lily was so startled by the unexpected interruption that she dropped her wand, which ended the music coming from the variety of instruments in front of her. “Papa! I didn't hear you come in!”

Draco smiled at her, utterly melting at her usage of the word papa.

“So... what are you doing?” Draco asked.

“I'm trying to decide if I want to write a song for daddy's wedding or just sing something I already know – and if I do that, _which_ song should I sing?” Lily informed them in a rush.

“I take it he said yes then?” Narcissa stated more than asked. “Based on how excited you were when he was first asked, I had a feeling he would agree.”

“Yes!” Lily exclaimed, bouncing unconsciously once more. “He accepted Jeremiah's proposal this morning at breakfast and set the date for the 15th of March! I'm going to be the flower girl _and_ the ring bearer _and_ I'm singing a song _and_ I'm planning to wear the prettiest dress ever!”

“I can take you shopping for that,” Narcissa informed her with an amused smile.

Lily flung her arms around her grandmother and gave her a tight hug. “Thank you so much! You have no idea how important this is to me. Jeremiah is the nicest man in the world. We met him through my school because he's one of the teachers there. He's patient with us students and he always encourages everyone to do their absolute best. I couldn't  _imagine_ a better man for my daddy!”

“Well, if he makes your father happy, that's all that matters then,” Narcissa murmured diplomatically.

“I think so too,” Lily agreed.

“I just remembered that I have an appointment to visit with Pansy for a bit,” Draco murmured before Apparating away. Narcissa closed her eyes and mentally tracked Draco since he hadn't left the wards. Instead, he was once more in the Crystal Room. She was tempted to sigh and shake her head.

Lily frowned at the spot he was standing before he disappeared. “Something's wrong, but neither papa nor daddy will tell me what.”

Narcissa gave her an elegant version of a shrug. “I suspect that the problem is something that no one else will ever be able to understand.”

“Do you think that they still love each other?” Lily asked, biting her lip in thought.

Narcissa took a deep breath before responding. “I think that the two of them have loved and hated each other their entire lives.”

“Then why did Draco leave?” Lily whispered, knowing that Narcissa wouldn't be able to answer the question.

Narcissa sighed softly. “That's something you'll have to ask my son, but I suspect that he was afraid of what he was feeling back then.”

Lily cast a profoundly sad expression to the floor. “If I can at all help it, I am  _never_ going to run from the one I love – you know, someday when I fall in love.”

“That is a very wise decision,” Narcissa assured her with a smile. “Now come with me. I think a visit to my favorite dress maker is in order.”

Lily felt her excitement return and slipped her hand into her grandmother's. Narcissa took her to the shop of a witch that was adept at making clothing that was not only fashionable, but custom made based on the specifications of her clients. Lily was so full of ideas that she had a hard time deciding and ended up with nearly a dozen new dresses by the time they were finished.

 

***

 

Lily returned home after breakfast the next morning wearing one of her dresses. One that she was fairly sure she wouldn't want to wear at the wedding. One that made her feel like a pretty princess, which prompted her to continually twirl and dance for no reason other than she liked how the dress moved.

“Well, aren't you just gorgeous?” Harry complimented her with a kiss on the cheek.

“You like?” Lily asked needlessly. “Grandma bought it for me – along with the dress I'm going to wear to your wedding.”

“She did?” Harry asked in surprise, not expecting Narcissa to buy Lily a dress specifically for Harry's wedding.

“Yep, and here,” Lily stated as she handed Harry a beautifully wrapped package. “Grandma said that she bought this after I told her Jeremiah asked you to marry him because she was certain – based on my excitement – that you'd accept.”

Sure enough, the tag attached to the present said: _To Harry and Jeremiah, congratulations on your engagement_. Harry looked so confused that Jeremiah chuckled.

“Who is that from?” He asked.

“Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother,” Harry answered. Then he carefully opened the package. It turned out to be a lovely set of diamond tie pins.

“Wow,” Jeremiah murmured in awe. “That's a rather expensive gift, _considering_...”

Harry shrugged. “I am fairly certain that Narcissa considers this an impersonal gift and the least she could do.” He then grinned at his daughter. “Do you plan to wear that to the Burrow today?”

“Yep!” Lily stated with a beautiful smile. “It's been charmed to resist all dirt and other things that could stain it. I was told that I could wear this to a mud pit and it would stay as clean as the day it was made.”

“Impressive,” Harry replied with a nod and expression that showed he actually was impressed. Then he tilted his head and jerked it in the direction of her room. “You should go get your broom.”

Lily looked like she was thinking this over carefully for a moment, and then nodded. “Alright. Could be fun.” She danced her way out of the room.

“It's probably a good thing that she's so passionate about joining Cirque du Soleil someday, otherwise all that energy of hers would just go to waste,” Jeremiah stated with a fond grin.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed.

“Did I ever tell you how awesome of a father I think you are?” Jeremiah asked, pulling Harry into a warm embrace.

Harry smiled. “I think you have, but I could stand to hear it again.”

“You're amazing, you really are,” Jeremiah informed him with a kiss. “And I thought that long before I found out about _the-boy-who-lived_ stuff.”

Harry kissed Jeremiah in return. “I think you're pretty amazing too.”

“Even though I don't have magic?” Jeremiah asked in a tone that made it clear he was afraid that Harry thought less of him for being a muggle.

“Are you joking?!” Harry asked incredulously. “Have you _seen_ the way you fly through the air? I get breathless just watching you!”

Jeremiah responded by smiling before kissing Harry.

Later on at the Burrow, Harry held Jeremiah in front of him as they flew around on the broom. Lily was also flying around on her broom, but rather than play Quidditch with all her “cousins,” she danced and performed daring tricks that had Harry twitching nervously and holding his wand at the ready to catch her if she fell. Jeremiah chuckled and rested his head against Harry's shoulder.

“I have to admit, even _I'm_ nervous watching her do all that at over 50 feet in the air,” Jeremiah murmured.

“I have to keep telling myself that it's really no worse than all the stunts I pulled while playing Quidditch,” Harry replied.

“I _love_ how you handle a broom,” Jeremiah purred suggestively in Harry's ear.

“Is that so?” Harry questioned, his eyes on fire with amusement.

“Mmm,” Jeremiah hummed rather than answer. The two of them kissed tenderly, thankful that the broom automatically prevented them from falling to the ground in their distraction.

“Harry!” Ron's voice boomed over a Sonorus. “Stop snogging and come have cake!”

Harry chuckled since Molly had been beside herself all night in making Harry's congratulation dinner the best it could possibly be. “We should land. It's more comfortable to kiss while sitting at the table anyway.”

Jeremiah nodded in agreement. As always, dinner was boisterous. Jeremiah instantly felt like he was part of the family. Holding Harry's hand, he wondered yet again how he had gotten so lucky.

 

***

 

The weekend before Harry's wedding, Lily positively _insisted_ that Harry and Jeremiah both went with her to Malfoy Manor so that she could show them her room and do a little light Aerial Silk practice with Jeremiah. Thus – after confirming with Narcissa that Lily had permission to bring Jeremiah to the Manor, Harry Apparated them to the gates of the Manor. A house elf stood by to let them in.

“Muffy, I order you to let Jeremiah through the wards,” Lily commanded imperiously.

“Yes Mistress Lily,” the elf murmured obediently as she magically scanned Jeremiah and adjusted the wards.

Smiling in delight, Lily gave the elf a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you, Muffy. Now, will you please Apparate us all to my room?”

“Of course, Mistress Lily!” Muffy assured her, obviously pleased by Lily's affection.

A moment later, Lily was skipping in glee as she showed them around her room. She pointed to the enormously high ceiling. “Papa and grandma installed the anchor I wanted so that I can practice my Aerial Silks whenever I wanted.”

Her brief tour had given Muffy plenty of time to disappear and reappear with a tray full of tea and an assortment of snacks. Muffy silently dared to tug on Harry's sleeve. Which actually startled him a tiny bit.

“Would Master Harry Potter sir care for a spot of tea?” Muffy asked, looking at Harry rather worshipfully.

“Thank you,” Harry murmured as he accepted a cup and a chocolate biscuit. “Er, Muffy, right?”

“Yes sir, Mister Harry Potter, sir! Muffy is overjoyed that a wizard as great as you has remembered Muffy's name!”

“It's no problem, really,” Harry assured her hastily before she had a chance to work herself up to dramatic wails.

Muffy curtseyed gracefully without dropping the tray she carried. “Muffy is grateful to Master Harry Potter for being kind to Muffy's brother, Dobby. I heard you even provided him with a grave when he died.”

Harry choked on his tea and coughed for a moment to clear his throat as he set his cup aside. “You're Dobby's sister?!”

“Yes, Master Harry Potter, sir,” Muffy confirmed.

Harry got on his knees and took hold of Muffy's small hands – prompting her to levitate the tray over to a table. “I'm so sorry for your loss. Dobby was the best house elf I've ever known. He rescued me and my friends from the Manor dungeon when we were being held captive as an offering for Voldemort. He died saving us and I've always felt that it wasn't fair. He was utterly innocent! He shouldn't have died like that...”

Muffy looked like she dearly wished to bash her head into something and burst into wails of gratitude, but she somehow managed to restrain herself. “Master Harry Potter has it all wrong! Dobby died a hero! Muffy is certain that he would tell you how proud he is of his death if he could.”

“Potter!” Draco exclaimed in surprise as he entered Lily's room to see if she had arrived – especially considering that she had a habit of Flooing in and out of her room without letting anyone know she was there. Draco straightened and narrowed his eyes. “What's this? Trying to seduce another one of our house elves away from our service?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Of course, _Malfoy_. I happen to agree with Hermione in that no elf should ever have to work for ungrateful pureblood families. You should just go ahead and present Muffy with some socks so that I can hire her on at my place.”

“Why? Did your ancient and decrepit excuse for an elf finally die?” Draco wondered, mostly curious but with a hint of a sneer.

“Kreacher's doing just fine, thank you for asking,” Harry stated, then turned his attention back to Muffy, who was now shifting side to side nervously.

“Master Harry Potter cannot be serious! Muffy is loyal to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy! Muffy could not work for anyone else, not even the venerated and exalted Master Harry Potter!”

“Not even Lily?” Harry asked, petting her head like she was a finicky cat.

Muffy stopped her frantic protests and cast an uncertain look at the girl in question. “Mistress Lily _is_ a Malfoy...”

Draco sighed in aggravation. “This is because you found out that Muffy is Dobby's sister, isn't it?”

“Dobby was important to me,” Harry stated seriously.

Draco rolled his eyes. “Taking his sister into your service won't bring him back. Besides, Dobby was in service to our family since he was born, thus _all_ our elves are related to him in one way or another. I'm _not_ going to free them all for you just because Dobby died while helping you rescue Granger from torture at the hands of my insane aunt.”

Muffy flung herself to the floor with agonized squeals. “Pardon my impertinent interruption, Master Draco, but Muffy doesn't _want_ to be free! Muffy is honored to serve the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy!”

“Calm down, Muffy,” Draco stated with a hint of sympathy to his voice. “I wasn't planning to free you.”

“Thank you, Master Draco Sir! Muffy is beyond grateful!”

Draco harrumphed. “See Potter? Now kindly stop terrorizing my elves!”

Muffy squeaked and twisted her hands around each other anxiously. Draco frowned when he noticed this. “What's the matter?”

“Er... If Muffy could be so presumptuous as to ask... Would Master Draco allow Master Harry Potter to bring Muffy to see Dobby's grave?”

Draco tilted his head in confusion. “You mean you couldn't just sense where it is?” House elf magic was still mysterious, but powerful enough that Draco really thought they would have visited said grave whenever they had a chance.

“His grave is inside a series of protective wards,” Harry murmured. “I'd be surprised if she could sense it.”

“Then you have my permission to take her there whenever you like,” Draco stated with a careless wave of his hand.

Half of Harry wanted to strangle Draco and call him a bunch of nasty names because he was obviously being an arse on purpose just to rile Harry up, but the other half of him was grateful that Draco had actually given permission. Before Harry could say anything, Muffy threw herself at Draco's feet and dared to kiss his shoes repeatedly.

“Oh thank you, Master Draco!”

Lily sighed because she was rather uncomfortable by the whole conversation. “Papa... You're upsetting my daddy again. Would you kindly leave my room before I have to ask Sunshine to bite you?”

This actually made Draco grin – he _loved_ when his daughter acted like a Slytherin. “As you wish, love.” Contrary to his words, he walked over and ruffled her hair affectionately. “Are you planning to stay for dinner?”

“Probably,” Lily admitted with a shrug. “Daddy has some things to do tonight to make sure his wedding is perfect, and I'm going to practice the song I'm going to sing.”

“Alright, love,” Draco smiled at her – although she was beginning to know him well enough to notice that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. “I'll come back a little before dinner to see if you're still here.”

“Okay,” Lily stated with a smile.

“Just have a house elf come get me if you decide you need anything else for your room,” Draco told her just before he Apparated out of the room.

Lily sighed in relief. “Alright, now that we won't be disturbed, let's get started.”

Jeremiah returned her adoring smile for a moment before glancing at Harry. “Are you okay?” He asked with a concerned frown.

“Yeah – or at least I will be,” Harry admitted with a hint of sadness in his voice. “I'm going to bring Muffy to Dobby's grave, and then I'll probably stay there for a half an hour or so.”

“Okay,” Jeremiah murmured softly in agreement, wishing he could comfort Harry but knowing that he wasn't what Harry needed at the moment.

A moment after Harry Disapparated, Jeremiah sighed with just a hint of glumness. “I'm not trying to make you feel bad, but your other father is an asshole.”

Lily half shrugged. “The weird thing is that he only ever acts like that around daddy. And Daddy acts stupid around Draco too. I think they just can't figure out how to be nice to each other because they were enemies and hated each other for so long.”

“As perceptive as always,” Jeremiah praised her with a quick kiss to her cheek. “Now, let me show you a trick.”

Lily grinned at him and gestured an invitation for him to get on with it.

 

***

 

When Harry Apparated back into the Manor almost an hour and a half later – using Lily as his focus – he found that Lily and Jeremiah were having tea with the entire Malfoy family. Lucius was steadily ignoring everyone by reading a rather thick financial newspaper. Narcissa and Astoria were discussing fashion sort of _at_ Lily, who was busy whispering jokes to her little brother and only half paying attention to her grandmother. Jeremiah was focusing on his plate of pie and quietly snickering at the jokes Lily was telling. Which just left Draco, who seemed lost in thought as he sipped his tea.

“Lovely to see you again, Harry,” Astoria greeted him with a genuine smile. “Lily tells us that you brought one of the house elves to the grave of her brother.”

“Yes...” Harry murmured. “It was rather... cathartic.”

“Cathartic?” Draco questioned with a raised brow. “Did Granger force you to read a dictionary at some point?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “As it happens, she shoved one down my throat back when we were on the run from Voldemort – in between our hunting Horcruxes and her being tortured,” Harry pointed to the floor of the drawing room where it had happened. “Simply because she got tired of me grunting like a caveman.”

Draco snorted in amusement, and then hastily took a sip of his tea.

Lucius growled. “There is no need to bring up such unpleasant memories, _Mr. Potter_ ,” he snarled frostily.

Harry shrugged. “It's a fatal flaw of mine that I can't seem to ignore all the _unpleasant memories_ ,” he stated. Then he swept a hand around to indicate the entire room. “Although, I must admit that I'm glad the room has been redecorated. Dark purple was a rather _gauche_ choice, don't you think?”

Narcissa – being a pureblood and a Slytherin – took the not so subtle insult in stride and calmly replied – in between delicate sips of tea. “Well, the only reason the room was ever such a gauche shade of dark purple was because the Dark Lord insisted on creating a rather gloomy atmosphere to intimidate our reluctant and unfortunate guests. I – for one – am rather glad that I was able to choose a nice shade of cream to celebrate his death.”

Lucius snorted at that. He took his wife's hand in his and dropped a brief kiss on her knuckles. “You always did have the most refined taste.”

Before Harry could think of a suitable response – not wanting to offend Narcissa – Scorpius interrupted them. “Wait a moment, you mean that he is telling the truth?” Scorpius looked to the spot that Harry had pointed as if he could see someone being tortured at that very moment.

“Oh _brilliant_ ,” Draco muttered unappreciatively. “Now he's going to have nightmares.”

“Let me handle this,” Lucius insisted, getting to his feet and walking around the table to pick up his grandson. “Once upon a time, there was a rather crazy man who talked a good deal of sense.” As he talked, he walked out of the drawing room.

Lily got up. “Wait! I want to hear this too,” she said as she followed her grandfather.

Harry was torn between telling her not to listen to what was probably going to be thinly veiled pureblood propaganda, and letting his daughter bond with her grandfather. Narcissa set her tea cup aside.

“Astoria, dear, would you mind accompanying me to my favorite jewelers? I received word this morning that an order I placed is ready for pick up.”

“Of course,” Astoria agreed with a smile. The two ladies linked arms before Disapparating.

There was a mildly awkward silence for a few seconds before Draco set his cup and saucer on the table. “Muffy?”

Muffy appeared instantly. “Yes, Master Draco?”

Draco gave her a very tiny smile. “I've decided that you _should_ be given to Lily as her personal house elf. You'll serve her in any way she wishes.”

Muffy actually looked excited. “Yes Master Draco!” She immediately disappeared – presumably to hide near Lily so she would be on hand if Lily needed anything at all.

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. “You shouldn't have done that. You're _spoiling_ her!”

“I don't understand; you're the one who was trying to steal the house elf this morning to give to Lily,” Draco stated with a frown.

“I was _trying_ to free Muffy by giving her the option of serving whoever she wants,” Harry admitted. “I don't actually think that Lily needs her own house elf.”

Draco dismissed his words with a wave of his hand. “I'm _not_ spoiling her. I'm simply trying to accustom her to a certain standard of living.”

“You're spoiling her,” Harry stated flatly.

“No more than you are by letting her go to her muggle circus school rather than a proper school like Hogwarts,” Draco countered.

“The difference is that I'm letting her follow her dreams, not showering her with gifts in an attempt to buy her affection,” Harry pointed out.

Draco pulled out his wand and pointed it at Harry. His eyes were narrow and angry. “What did you say?”

“You think you can buy her, but you can't buy love, Draco,” Harry informed him.

“I am _not_ trying to buy her affection!” Draco growled. “I am simply treating her the way I was treated at her age. I can't help it if you do not recognize genuine _love_ simply because you were never shown it!”

Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at Draco. He couldn't think of a witty come back, so he defaulted to a crude: “Fuck you!”

Harry and Draco started casting hexes at the same time, and Jeremiah – who had been watching the two of them in silence because he had _no idea_ what to say to get them to stop arguing – found that his protective jewelry activated by creating a bubble shield around him that wouldn't let him move. Aside from the few feet the shield floated him over to the side. Here, he was out of the way of the spells that the two wizards were hurling at each other.

“Why are you such an arse?” Draco demanded in between casting curses at Harry.

“Why are you such a dick?” Harry asked in return.

“I have perfectly refined manners!” Draco insisted haughtily.

“Which I have _never_ seen!” Harry reminded him.

“That's because you wouldn't know culture if it bit you in the arse!” Draco sneered. The blasting hex he cast bounced off Harry's shield and hit the chandelier – which came crashing down between them with a resounding sound like an explosion. This only added to the copious damage that their other hexes had caused when bouncing off their shields and hitting furniture or the walls.

“Merlin's rotting brain! I have _no idea_ how I ever managed to fall in love with you! It's probably a good thing you left when you did and forced me to realize that there's a _reason_ you were a Death Eater!” Harry roared.

“Fuck you!” Draco roared in return. “You _know_ I had no choice in that!” He launched himself over the shattered remains of the chandelier and knocked Harry to the ground.

Harry anticipated this and rolled them so that he was on top of Draco, perfectly positioned to punch him repeatedly as Draco tried to choke him with only moderate success. “You keep _saying_ that you had no choice, but you do _evil_ so well!”

“ _Daddy_!!!” Lily gasped out in pure shock.

Harry and Draco paused their brawl to look over at their daughter. When they saw that she actually was standing just inside the room with Scorpius and Lucius, both nearly flinched in shame.

“ _What are you doing?!”_ Lily demanded in the tone of someone far older than she actually was. She even had her hands formed into fists and resting on her hips.

Both of her fathers took a deep breath and slowly loosened their grip on each other. “Fighting,” Harry admitted with a sigh of defeat as he stood up. He then offered Draco a hand, which Draco accepted, getting to his feet and trying hard to master his face so he didn't look ashamed in front of his children and father.

Lucius – rather than being upset by or disapproving of the destruction to his home – looked somewhat impressed. “I had no idea that you could actually hold your own in a duel with the Wizard who defeated the Dark Lord.” Which was a roundabout way of admitting that Harry was actually very powerful, and that there was a reason he had managed to defeat Voldemort when no one else could.

Draco decided that he didn't want to insult Harry in front of their daughter and look like a bad man, so he merely shrugged. “That's because Harry is such a bloody savior that he refuses to hurt anyone – even me. I am certain that he holds back.”

“Not always...” Harry grumbled and rubbed the back of his neck.

Draco scoffed. “Please! I well know that you could kill my entire family with little more than a thought if you ever got angry enough.”

Harry flung his hands out in frustration. “Then _why_ do you keep trying to enrage me until I see red and can't think straight?!”

“I do not!” Draco denied, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Do so!”

“Do not!”

“Do so!”

“Because it's the only way I have ever been able to get you to pay attention to me!” Draco shouted before realizing what he said and promptly turning his back on everyone. This meant that he was now facing Jeremiah, who was looking at him and Harry with a thoughtful expression.

Harry sighed heavily and ran a hand through his perpetually messy black hair. “Look, I've got a lot of things I'm supposed to be doing, so I should probably just leave. Lily, do you want to stay here or come home with me?”

“I...” Lily looked back and forth between her fathers indecisively. After a moment, she squared her shoulders. “I'm going to stay here because I know that you have a lot of things to do. I'll come home tomorrow for breakfast.”

“Alright then,” Harry murmured with a faint smile for her. He held out his arms and she lightly ran into them for a tight hug. They kissed each other on the cheek. “Love you.”

“I love you too, daddy,” Lily murmured.

Harry walked over to Jeremiah, feeling guilty that he had basically forgotten all about his fiancé from the very first moment he and Draco had devolved into stupid kids who did nothing but fight. Then he held out his hand so that he could Apparate them home. Jeremiah gave him a tentative smile before waving at Lily.

“See you later, Lily bug!”

“Later Jeremiah!”

Draco had his lips pressed firmly together to prevent himself from saying anything as he watched them disappear. Lily startled him by gently wrapping her arms around his waist.

“Are you okay?” She asked in a very soft voice.

“Just fine love,” he assured her with a false smile.

“Please don't lie to me,” Lily whispered.

Draco sighed and ruffled her hair. “Sorry. I suppose I look terrible. I'll just go get cleaned up.” But before he could move, Scorpius joined in on their hug. It took a moment, but Draco eventually managed to relax and return their comforting embrace.

“Thanks...” he whispered when he felt able to speak without choking up from emotion. Then he left the room to clean up just like he said he was going to.

 

**Author's Note:**

> That whole Muffy thing just came out without any warning or planning, lol! I was pleasantly surprised :-) It very much felt like a tender moment in an otherwise rather heavy scene. Plus it provided Draco with what I think might be his only good act during this entire part, lol.


End file.
